By Elizabeth Cloutman
Original Indian art and jewelry at home exhibition and fund-raiser
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind gift for that very special person in your life, Madhvi Pratt and Ruchi Kothari believe they have the solution. They have scheduled an exhibition of their retail collections of original Indian art and jewelry at Pratt’s Los Altos home Saturday and Sunday. Five percent of the earnings from the exhibition will benefit the World Trade Center Relief Fund.
Pratt and Kothari are natives of India and Silicon Valley veterans who have returned to their roots and their love of art by forming their own companies.
Pratt, a 15-year Los Altos resident, owns Art Exotica. She imports paintings, murals, carvings, hand-enameled metalware pots and Nayika sculptures, which are carved out of sandstone in the small, indigent villages of Orissa, a state in eastern India.
Kothari, who lives in Union City, designs the Sunhera couture line of jewelry for women. Indian artisans manufacture the handcrafted 22-carat gold, gemstone and enamel accessories made popular by 18th century maharajahs, she said. “Sunhera” is the Hindi word for “golden.”
Pratt said that while both she and Kothari were working in Silicon Valley, they had never met. Pratt’s brother, who remains in India, was the photographer Kothari used to take pictures for her Sunhera jewelry catalog. He told Kothari about his sister. The two women met and quickly became friends.
Pratt said that after 12 years in the high-tech industry, she felt it was time to “follow my passion.” Last year, she left her position at Intel to travel the Indian countryside, seeking artists who didn’t have the opportunity to present their work worldwide. This year, Pratt began Art Exotica to sell their work.
The Nayika sculptures are replicas of those found on the walls of the temples of Khajuraho and Konarak, Pratt said. The replicas, which can be up to 5 feet tall, feature women in graceful poses and a variety of moods. “An artist can work for five months to complete (a sculpture),” Pratt said.
Kothari’s family owned a jewelry business in Los Angeles. She had always loved art and drawing, she said. She worked in marketing for high-tech companies until 1999. “I really wanted to go back to my roots,” Kothari said.
She began to design Kundan Meena necklaces, earrings and pendants. Kundan Meena is the Indian art of enameling and studding precious stones in gold, introduced in the 1700s by Maharaja Man Singh, who commissioned pieces of such jewelry for his beautiful wife. “Each piece is one of a kind and can take up to six months to craft by hand,” Kothari said.
The art and jewelry exhibition is set for 3-9 p.m., Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, at 555 Pinecrest Drive, Los Altos. A preview is scheduled 1-3 p.m., Saturday. Those wishing to attend the preview must R.S.V.P. by calling (408) 666-9184 or (510) 324-4600.
